Residents from around Hawaii Island ascended on Ke Ala Kahawai O Waimea — The Streamside Trail of Waimea — Saturday in celebration of National Trails Day.
The volunteer Waimea Trails and Greenways Committee hosted the North Hawaii event, which featured a hike along the open portion of the trail, plein air painters, a talk story with Leningrad Elarionoff, plant sale and more to celebrate National Trails Day.
National Trails Day takes place on the first Saturday of June. It is a day of public events aimed at advocacy and trail service, according to the American Hiking Society. Hikers, bikers, rowers, horseback riders, trail clubs, federal and local agencies, land trusts, and businesses come together in partnership to advocate for, maintain, clean up and enjoy public lands and trails.
“This is not just a personal trail — it’s a public trail,” said Clemson Lam, a founding member of the committee.
The volunteer trail-building effort dates back to 1994, said Lam. By 1998, volunteers had put in enough work to open the trail, which follows the meandering Waikoloa Stream, between the nature park and Opelo Road. In 2003, the trail was extended to its current terminus at Kahawai Street.
“With the help and volunteers of Waimea Trails and Greenways Committee, most of the alignment for Phase 1 was cleared and grubbed once trail easements were in place and they continue to help maintain. This partnership in maintenance has allowed us to save time in design work and is projected to save time on construction activities,” Hawaii County said in its most recent project update.
The trail, which is being developed by Hawaii County in three phases and as funding is available, will range in width from 10 feet to 12 feet and meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards. Phase two will take the trail from its current terminus at Kahawai Street to the Waimea Transfer Station and phase three will bring it to Kamuela View Estates.
When the county completes the project, estimated in July 2021 to cost just over $8 million, Ke Ala Kahawai O Waimea will be a multi-use bicycle and pedestrian path approximately 4.8 miles through Waimea, providing an accessible, non-vehicular pathway between residences, businesses, and schools.
While the dream is to have a smooth, paved surface that provides accessibility to all, the current volunteer-created trail remains in a natural state with a simple wood chip path in many areas beyond a portion of road installed by the Camp Tarawa Marines invited by Parker Ranch to recuperate after fighting the Battle in Tarawa in 1943 as World War II raged.
Lam said the county is nearing finishing design work for phase one, which is between Kahawai Street and Lindsey Road. The committee, he added, is currently working with Parker Ranch to extend the trail in its current state another mile toward the transfer station.
For more information on Ke Ala Kahawai O Waimea and Waimea Trails and Greenways Committee, which has nonprofit status under Friends for Fitness, contact Clemson Lam via email at c.lam4@hawaiiantel.net or by calling (808) 885-4431. Volunteer work days are held Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. starting at the Waimea Nature Park.
Emal Chelsea Jensen at cjensen@westhawaiitoday.com.